The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/altars/page/2)
This is the first place that has been entirely mine, where every piece of art or display has been chosen because it represents something important to me, something that makes me happy. Trying to see it with another set of eyes feels distancing, like a particularly unpleasant magic trick. I suppose that’s fitting.
My room became a Wunderkammer of sorts, filled with strange and magical items right alongside cheap pieces of mass-produced plastic that made me laugh and reminded me of my friends. The ways in which I saw the gods grew into a visual language, a series of physical metaphors grounded in my everyday experience and sprawling across my living space. Like all languages, it began to create its own meaning.
As I settle into the house I find myself living most of my life in that space, surrounded by my allies. Hermes near the door, gathering small bright things like a magpie. Athena by the window, firm and steady and unexpected, watching with her grey eyes. The Good Neighbors at the threshold, honey in their cups and hawthorne close to hand.
Luke Babb writes about their experiences with those entities some call “the good neighbors,” some “the fair folk,” and some by dozens of other names – not all of which may refer to the same class of being.
Luke Babb recounts their attempts – not all of them successful – to bring the spirit of mistletoe into their Yuletide traditions.